Review New Official Fee Schedule Before Creating 2010-2011 Athletic Budget
By Cliff Odenwald | Friday, March 05, 2010 9:45 AM
It’s that time of year when school districts are finalizing their budgets for the 2010-2011 school year. Many athletic departments budgets are being reduced, and that leaves some major decisions to make when trying to offer the same opportunities for all students with fewer funds. To prepare your official’s portion of the athletic budget, reference the UIL Web site home page under “Amendments Approved by the Commissioner of Education” for the changes to the officials’ fee schedule in Section 1204 of the Constitution and Contest Rules. 
At the request of the UIL Legislative Council, an Ad Hoc Committee was established to review the officials’ fee schedule in Section 1204. The Ad Hoc Committee on Officials met in September and heard proposals from officials representing each sport as well as testimony from athletic directors concerning officials’ fees. At the conclusion of the meeting, the Ad Hoc Committee instructed the UIL staff to make the following changes to the officials fee schedules: establish a flat fee for all varsity contests except for football (football will continue to pay according to the gate fee schedule); a game is a game (the fee established for one game should be the same fee paid for all games and not a reduced fee for multiple games); there is a difference in a varsity contest and sub varsity and the fee schedule should reflect this difference; establish a travel reimbursement schedule that would be consistent for all schools. After the Ad Hoc Committee meeting, staff members presented the fees proposed by the officials to more than 20 school districts from all regions and conferences in the state. These school districts were asked to review these proposals and make recommendations, before the final proposal was made to the Legislative Council at the October meeting.
When you review the approved amendments, you will notice major changes in the ways officials will be compensated in Section 1204 for the 2010 – 2011 school year. Varsity football is the only sport that will continue to use gate receipts when calculating the officials’ game fees. Flat game fees were established for all other sports varsity contests and for all sub varsity contests. For the first time, game fees for all tournament games and playoff games are presented for each sport. The fee established for each game is the same fee whether one game or multiple games are officiated. When budgeting for travel reimbursement, there are two plans. Each school can budget for travel reimbursement based upon either the metro plan or the non-metro plan. In the metro plan, each official receives a flat fee of travel from the center point of that chapter to the game site. In the non-metro plan, each official will be paid mileage portal to portal based upon the number of cars used to transport the officials. For each car that is reimbursed travel in the non-metro plan the fee per mile is reduced. If you have a question as to whether your school will pay the metro or non-metro travel reimbursement, please consult with your local officiating chapter that assigns your games.
The changes to Section 1204 will make it easier to budget for game fees paid to officials. To determine the amount needed for game fees: review the flat game fee for that sport, multiply the flat game fee by the number of officials used for that contest and then multiply that number by the total number of home games played at that level of competition. It will take a little time to calculate all of the game fees, but the budget will reflect the exact amount needed for each sport except for varsity football contests. The varsity football game fee will continued to be based upon gate receipts and you will need to refer to last year’s football gate receipts, to estimate those game fees. These changes to Section 1204 will not be implemented until the 2010-2011 school year.
Each athletic department will need to make sure and calculate the new fee schedule for next year’s budget. Most school districts will notice increases in the officials’ portion of the budget. The changes to section 1204 were made to simplify the officials’ game fee schedule as it relates to the school budget and establish a statewide travel reimbursement plan for schools and officials. I sympathize and understand the tough decisions that you will make as you prepare your 2010 -2011 athletic budget. I know that each of you will do a great job in determining a budget that will fit the needs of your students, schools and communities.